Plink, plink.

Meng Serling fills the teacup with tea.

Steam rises gently, and the tea's fragrance spreads subtly.

The conversation continued calmly until the heat dissipated and the temperature became appropriate.

When Meng Sheguang asked, Cheonyeong answered.

When he asked, he answered again.

"Don't you have anything to ask me?"

"No."

"Huh?"

"I don't."

As Cheonyeong spoke bluntly, Meng Sheguang blinked.

"Why?"

"Why what? I just don't have anything to ask."

At Cheonyeong's clearly reluctant response, Meng Sheguang's eye twitched.

This damn brat...

Meng Sheguang had already marked Cheonyeong as a potential son-in-law in his heart, so he had many things he wanted to ask.

He had answered well to the questions he had asked.

But those answers were subtly evasive, so he hadn't found out anything he was curious about. So now he told him to ask, wanting to understand the fellow's character through his questions, but he said he had nothing to ask.

Why! How! You should ask!

Frustrated, Meng Sheguang drank his tea in one gulp, and Meng Serling opened her eyes wide in alarm.

"Father, it's hot..."

"Ah, it's hot!"

Frustrated, he made a mistake and overreacted shamelessly.

"My, it seems you haven't yet reached the realm of Unaffected by Cold and Heat."

"What?"

"Isn't that so? When eating something hot, it has no effect?"

Cheonyeong tilted his head in confusion.

How much he disliked that smiling expression as if he understood nothing.

Meng Sheguang repeatedly clenched and unclenched his fists, barely composing himself.

"Listen, Family Head Tang."

"Yes?"

"At your age, don't you usually feel curious about things?"

"About what?"

"For instance, how I was able to make the Black Heaven Sect into such a great power in Sichuan? How did I learn such powerful martial arts? Isn't that how it usually goes? Some kind of secret to success, that sort of thing."

"Hmm... I suppose that could be the case."

"Right! Exactly! So ask me. I'm quite an open person, so if you ask, I'll answer without hiding anything."

Meng Sheguang looked at him with sparkling eyes, finally thinking he had drawn out a conversation.

But Cheonyeong shook his head.

"I won't ask."

"What?"

"It's like this. After all, people are different, the circumstances they face are different, and what they pursue is different... so your success methods aren't necessarily what I need, are they?"

"But still, there are universal principles that transcend the times..."

"That may be true. Perhaps if I learn what I need from the teachings you provide, things would be somewhat easier."

"Yes! Exactly! That's it! I'm not saying you should follow my words exactly, just use them as reference. Right!"

"..."

"Actually, speaking truthfully, the Blue Serpent Sect is one thing, but this Minglun Chamber incident too."

"What about it?"

"You were too reckless."

Cheonyeong tilted his head in confusion.

"Reckless? About what?"

"You won, but you didn't have any backup, did you?"

"Yes?"

"You should have investigated beforehand."

"..."

"What the Minglun Chamber was thinking, who was behind them, you should have examined everything carefully and grasped certain victory before you stepped forward."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, absolutely. That's why I want to teach you something. Think about it. What if you had stepped forward and died or been seriously injured? And even if you won, what if the Black Heaven Sect had gotten involved because I didn't appear in time?"

"Hmm."

"You should have sent your subordinates first to scout. To understand the Minglun Chamber's intentions..."

"Grand Elder."

"Huh?"

"I'm not that foolish."

"What?"

"Did you really think I didn't know this situation was orchestrated by you because your political marriage proposal was rejected? From the start, this wasn't something that could be resolved by sending subordinates."

"Hmm."

"And my subordinates would have suffered. The Minglun Chamber Leader would have needed to draw me out no matter what."

At Cheonyeong's words, Meng Sheguang closed his mouth.

"Grand Elder, the Tang Family is a place made by gathering those who lived as vagabonds. Though we don't share blood, we live more tightly bound than those who do."

"Ah, I see..."

"How could I send such people to a place where they would obviously suffer? Moreover, if they were captured, they would be used as hostages. Perhaps some would have died. So I had to come."

"But if you were captured, the Tang Family could have been completely destroyed."

"If I were captured, my household members would have abandoned the Tang Family and fled."

"What?"

"That's how I educated them."

"..."

"When weak, don't foolishly fight. Flee first and build strength. That's the way of the weak to survive."

"Huh?"

"In return, I will take revenge. The Tang Family never forgets a grudge. We'll hide, build strength, and take revenge no matter what. Relentlessly. That's how I've taught them."

"..."

"And me, I rarely die. I'm confident I can escape in any situation."

Cheonyeong smiled with an impish expression.

It was absurd.

A martial artist who lives on pride speaking of escape so proudly.

But Cheonyeong's words didn't leave his ears and remained, stirring many thoughts in his mind.

What he felt from the young man's eyes and expression was trust.

Trust in himself and trust in his household members.

Was there such a place?

Was his own youth like that?

Everyone builds a faction.

Countless forces rise and fall repeatedly.

The martial world has always been where only the strong survive.

But how many places have trust deeply rooted within?

"Grand Elder, I understand you're looking kindly upon a young person like me and trying to help. But you've already passed through the trials of the world, and you've been managing a great faction and have now handed over management authority. How could your current words help me?"

"..."

"Perhaps no teaching would match my situation. I will stand tall in this Sichuan in my own way. So I'll just accept your good intentions in trying to help."

Cheonyeong's teacup emptied.

Meng Sheguang had no answer to give.

The young fellow.

But his thoughts and values are firm.

What good is age?

Moreover, it was just a different method, not something that could be called wrong.

Hehe, the back wave is truly fierce.

Meng Sheguang found himself naturally envisioning a distant future where the Tang Family would stand tall in Sichuan. And he couldn't help but admire the young martial artist who would lead that path.

"Ah! That's right."

"...?"

"Give me one hundred silver taels."

"Huh? What?"

Cheonyeong suddenly remembered something and abruptly extended his hand toward Meng Sheguang, opening his palm.

Like a debt collector receiving entrusted money.

Because of this, everything that had appeared in his mind about values and the future was erased.

What? One hundred... taels?

What kind of dog's name was that? Did he just give it because someone asked?

"Why one hundred taels?"

"The losses the Tang Family suffered while the boat was moored at Neijiang Wharf."

"What?"

Meng Sheguang's head tilted awkwardly.

But Cheonyeong didn't even blink, confidently extending his hand like a debt collector.

Actually... it was fifty taels.

But what did it matter?

The victim said so.

Wasn't the Black Heaven Sect wealthy anyway?

"Why? Don't you have it on hand? Then should I write a promissory note?"

"What?"

Meng Sheguang's eye corners shot up at such brazen behavior.

This damn bastard!

He completely canceled out the emotion he had felt just moments ago about the young martial artist's aspirations.

Wasn't he more like a highway robber than a back-alley thug?

"Hey, you! Why are you demanding compensation from me for losses caused by the Minglun Chamber?"

Meng Sheguang unknowingly burst out loudly.

"Didn't you order it? To block the Yangtze waterway and pressure the Tang Family?"

"Well, that's..."

"So pay up. My finances are already strained to death. It's not like you're extracting bean sprouts from a beggar's asshole..."

"What the..."

"Sanghui! Go get some writing materials!"

Cheonyeong frowned heavily and shouted toward the outside.

Was he really going to write a promissory note?

"Family Head Tang! Hey! This is absurd! A promissory note!"

"Absurd?"

"Yes! Do you know how much you've earned from this battle's victory?"

Unable to contain his exasperation, Meng Sheguang suddenly opened his mouth and shouted.

"You've obtained Neijiang Wharf, which the Minglun Chamber controlled! Do you understand what that means? It means you've seized a right that no mid-tier faction in Sichuan has been able to claim until now! And now? You're asking me for compensation? You damn bastard!"

He stared with wide eyes, but Cheonyeong casually scratched his ear with his pinky finger, showing composure.

"Why are you shouting when I'm asking for money justly?"

"What? Just?"

"Isn't it? Neijiang Wharf was obtained purely through my ability, as far as I know?"

"What?"

"That's right. Did you help at all?"

"..."

"You just appeared out of nowhere and stopped me from cutting the Minglun Chamber Leader's throat."

"That's..."

"If I had cut Gu Yongtae's neck then, the Minglun Chamber would have been immediately disbanded, and I would have seized not just Neijiang Wharf but the entire Minglun Chamber territory. I would have absorbed their martial artists too, just like with the Blue Serpent Sect. Damn it, now that I think about it, the losses I suffered because of you, Grand Elder, are quite considerable."

"What?"

"Sigh, one hundred taels isn't even close. I should have calculated the losses more carefully."

"This..."

Meng Sheguang was about to curse a string of profanities but closed his mouth.

He was afraid that if he said anything, the fellow would ask for even more than one hundred taels.

He was more than capable of it.

It's not like he was going to kill him right here, so if he tried to force it with strength...

No, he couldn't even force it with strength.

Here with him was that disciple of Changlim.

Hearing that they were on good terms after he resolved the Blue Green Sect matter, he was surely the type to spread rumors everywhere.

That the old man, rejected in his political marriage proposal, petulantly sent a mid-tier faction to harass the Tang Family.

His reputation might be ruined.

It's frustrating, but let's compromise.

Cheonyeong's words weren't wrong, were they?

In the battle between the Tang Family and the Minglun Chamber, he had purely provided the pretext. Rong had also issued secret orders.

"Listen, even so, one hundred taels is a bit..."

"Too much?"

"What money do I have, sitting idle in the back room? Cut me some slack. About fifty taels would do." 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

"My, why are you like this? You even have the title of Grand Elder, so what back room? And I saw with my own eyes how a mid-tier faction like the Minglun Chamber moves at just a word from you."

"Well, the Minglun Chamber isn't exactly a mid-tier faction..."

"And didn't you see? I almost died. The Tang Family almost faced complete destruction."

What?

When did that happen?

He saw with his own eyes how ten people turned Neijiang Wharf, where two hundred Minglun Chamber martial artists were holding, into a wasteland.

Wiping out dozens at once with formidable weapons, and you're saying you almost died?

And you're good at running away too!

Countless words rose to Meng Sheguang's throat and then disappeared.

"Miss Meng!"

"Yes?"

"You saw it too, right? What kind of situation I was in?"

"Ah, I..."

"Miss, please tell him. You're not unrelated to this matter either."

As Cheonyeong sought her help, Meng Sheguang quickly turned his head.

Yes, let her speak instead.

Objectively, come on!

He sent such a look, urging a response.

"I think one hundred taels is appropriate."

Watching the two bicker, Meng Serling, who had been smiling softly, answered without much hesitation, and Meng Sheguang's eyes lost focus.

He had forgotten that this girl harbored romantic feelings toward Cheonyeong.

...My daughter is useless.

(End of Chapter)